No. 22 Wisconsin off to best start since 2014 after win at No. 14 Iowa

No. 22 Wisconsin overcame another second-half deficit to beat No. 14 Iowa 72-66 and hand the Hawkeyes their first loss of the season.

Player of the Game: D’Mitrik Trice

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You know you’re having a good season shooting the ball when you go 4 of 8 from beyond the arc and your 3-point percentage for the year goes down. But that’s exactly what happened to Trice on Friday. He was shooting 60-percent coming in and now he’s down to 58.3 percent. The Badgers, obviously, will take that, just as they’ll take his team-high 20 points and seven rebounds.

Just like he was against North Carolina State on Tuesday, Trice was at his best in the dying moments of the game. After senior Ethan Happ fouled out in the final minute, it was Trice that knocked down a contested 3-pointer as the shot clock expired. It gave the Badgers a 5-point lead and it proved to be the winning bucket.

It was the just the latest eye-opening effort in a season full of them for the sophomore

The good: Brad Davison

Davison was a polarizing figure after drawing four charges in the win over the Wolfpack. One prominent figure at ESPN told him to have some self-respect, others called him a flopper and there were some that said he wasn’t even a “real” basketball player because of the charges. All of those people should be required to sit and watch what Davison did in the second half on Friday.

The sophomore didn’t draw a single charge against the Hawkeyes and was actually called for a couple blocks. But his contributions after halftime came in all facets of the game. He drilled a contested 3-pointer late in the shot clock, finished a couple nice drives with layups, found Happ for an easy bucket on another drive and was relentless on defense. Davison also calmly knocked down two free throws to salt the game away in the final seconds.

He may still be trying to find his role on offense after being the preliminary ball handler last year, but he continues to make the plays that the Badgers need him to make for them to win. There aren’t too many guys in the country that are more “real” basketball players than Davison.

The not so good: Foul trouble

It was not a good night for the officials and it led to a bad night for Wisconsin, who saw a number of players deal with foul trouble much of the game. Aleem Ford had three fouls in the first half, while Khalil Iverson, Nate Reuvers and Davison all picked up two before the break. In the end only Happ fouled out, but minutes were impacted, including Davison going for 27 — tied for the fewest in a non-blowout this year.

Stat of the game: 12

That’s how many points Wisconsin got from Brevin Pritzl on the night. It came after he managed just four points over the last four games combined. His 3-pointer with 1:35 left turned a 61-60 deficit into a 2-point lead — a lead the Badgers would not relinquish.

What they said:

“We kept him on the floor because he didn’t miss yesterday at practice. He was on fire. We needed to get him more shots and he hit the big one.